A MelanieM Review: Brandywine Investigations: Open for Business (Brandywine Investigations #1-3) by Angel Martinez

Rating: 5 stars out of 5 ★★★★★

When humans forsake the temples, the gods need to find other employment. Hades opens Brandywine Investigations after his divorce and his subsequent move to the modern world. If he was hoping for boring infidelity cases and lost dogs, he’s sorely mistaken as murder and mayhem find his agency and his extended family at an astonishing rate.

Includes:
Canines, Crosshairs & Corpses: Brandywine Investigations #1
No Enemy But Time: Brandywine Investigations #2
Dragons, Diamonds & Discord: Brandywine Investigations #3

Please note: The stories in this omnibus have been reedited, and expanded by about 18K (total.)

Its no secret, if you’ve been reading this blog, that I’m a huge fan of three things: fantasy, mythology, and the author that always manages to combine them in her imaginative and often addictive novels, Angel Martinez. So, I was thrilled to see a omnibus of tales that I had not encountered before, Brandywine Investigations: Open for Business (Brandywine Investigations #1-3) by Angel Martinez. What I found was pure Angel Martinez heaven.

While the main focus is the Pantheon of Greek gods, others like the Egyptian god Set for example make appearances, along with the Gilgamesh mythic figures, and norse legends, all set elements of a Martinez narrative. The author takes the whole of world’s theology and mythology and weaves it together in a wonderful literary tapestry, connected by larger than life characters as well as human. Then she makes them so real, so heartstopping believable that you fall deeply in love with them and boom, the connection between you and the characters and their world snaps into place.

The stories are stacked logically and chronologically. I would rate them all equally, really I had no favorites here. I loved them all.

Canines, Crosshairs & Corpses: Brandywine Investigations #1: This one introduces all the characters and sets up a mystery that will thread itself through all the stories. Here we meet Hades and Charon shortly after Persepherone has asked for a divorce. It was, as we all know, never really a love match but Hades is bereft and has left the Underworld. Martinez makes us believe in his emotional devastation, his climb to understanding and rebuilding his “new God life” and the street boy Ti he rescues. The emotions here are killer, in so many ways. There is humor, pain, angst, and yes, love.

No Enemy But Time: Brandywine Investigations #2: This involves all of the characters from the first story, but the focus is on Hades’ son, Zack (short for Zagreus, God of the Hunt or Resurrection) and his fallen Angel lover, Michael). This is one for breaking your heart several times over. Turns out that Michael was Zack’s guardian angel but fell in love with his charge. That cost his his wings. Not in a nice way but in a come down from heaven and cut them off your body in front of your lover while you are screaming sort of way. Still they have been happy. But there are other fallen angels in the city and someone has been killing them and now they are coming for Michael. The mystery is a wonderful one, the entire family comes together for Zack as its a race to help figure out who’s behind the plot against the fallen angels and how to stop it. Just a 5 star story all around.

Dragons, Diamonds & Discord: Brandywine Investigations #3: The collection ends with this story that pulls all 3 together, tying up the plot lines, the family stories, several relationships and ending with an altogether wonderful storyline about a dragon childrens author and Hermes, (yes that Hermes) nephew to Hades, corporate CEO and member in a band. Really there is no end to Angel Martinez’ imagination, or depths to her stories.

Each line here sparkles with humor, a touch or more of pathos, swathed over with layers of mythology and appreciation for the finer points of storytelling and relationship dynamics. All that and a great tale too. Plus dragons. I get dragons!

I don’t know if there are other Brandywine Investigations stories out there. I certainly hope so, Angel Martinez has barely broken the surface of gods she can pull into Hade’s and Charon’s circle. I know I need to know more. And check in to see how Hades and Ti are getting on, along with Zack and Michael and the rest of the gang.

Do I recommend Brandywine Investigations: Open for Business (Brandywine Investigations #1-3) by Angel Martinez? I absolutely do. Its plain out terrific in every way.

Cover Artist: Mila May. I am only so so on the cover. I really don’t believe it does the stories justice, It was the title and author who grabbed my attention, not the cover which I would have passed on.

Sales Links: Mischief Corner Books | Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, First
Published April 27th 2016 by Mischief Corner Books, LLC
Original TitleBrandywine Investigations: Open for Business
ISBN139781310044854
Edition LanguageEnglish

SeriesBrandywine Investigations #1-3

A MelanieM Review: Brimstone: Demon Owned & Operated (Brimstone #1-3) by Angel Martinez

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

Due to circumstances completely within his control, Shax, the Demon Prince of Thieves has fled, er, emigrated from Earth to seek his fortunes out in the galaxy. With his faithful friend, Verin, by his side, they acquire a gently used ship with a drag-queen AI.

Hell for the Company: Brimstone 1
Everything’s going just fine, thank you very much. All right, the anti-gravity cows are a bit problematic and some of Shax’s buyers are bad for his health, but he manages until he comes across an injured angel in a psychedelic alien jungle.

Fear of Frogs: Brimstone 2
While Shax recovers from a near fatality, his shipmates have taken the initiative and found them a lucrative cargo run. Shax is horrified to find out what sort of cargo. Unfortunately, he’ll soon discover that a healthy fear of frogs doesn’t prevent frog-driven disasters.

Shax’s War: Brimstone 3
The boys desperately need a vacation. With the not-quite-ill-gotten gains from the Frog incident, Shax takes the Brimstone’s crew to the exclusive resort planet, Opal. What could possibly go wrong?

I met Captain Shax and his demon friend… childhood buddy…what have you, Verin, in their Brimstone prequel, Potato Surprise. That wildly told tale gave us the particulars as to how they fled Earth and demon family (sort of), how they got their hands on the hastily renamed ship Brimstone with its lively IA Ivanna and took to space on all sorts of misadventures. It had bawdy humor, lots of hot sex, wildly imaginative beings and some unexpected angst. And I loved it.

So of course I searched immediately for more. And found Brimstone: Demon Owned & Operated (Brimstone #1-3) by Angel Martinez, three Brimstone stories in one from Mischief Corner Press. I was overjoyed and plowed right into the novels eager to see where Shax, Verin and the Brimstone went next. It was quite the journey, a little slow at times, but that last story, Shax’s War? That’s the one that kept me up thinking and so thrilled that I read this collection. That’s a 5 star slam bang right there but I’m getting ahead of myself and the Brimstone crew.

Putting all three stories under one title actually makes a huge amount of sense because of one element that runs through each story. At the start of the first story, its just Shax, Verin, and the IA Ivanna, in the mid-sized spacecraft renamed Brimstone. When Shax and Verin fled from his demon Uncle (plotting a new war with Heaven), they left everything behind, including his minions which he kind of loved (not that he would admit it), their palace, family (not that they liked them mind), and just everything. Now its just the two…er, three of them, alone in space. And sometimes they’ve found that a very lonely proposition.

In each new story, one of the main plot threads is that a new member or members of the crew comes on board and becomes family, replacing the one that Shax and Verin fled/left behind. How I loved that aspect of this story. Its subtle and I can’t believe I just said that where one story has pages of frog sex. And it shows how much heart these tales have (even if one has the hearts being ripped out of the bodies…you are warned).

Hell for the Company: Brimstone 1. Rating: 3.25 stars.

I liked this story. Two words make it kind of magical. Floating cows. Five make it hilarious. Cow pies from the sky. Its also where Shax meets his fallen angel lover, Ness. I was slow to warm up to Ness, both as a companion to Shax and as a member of the crew of the Brimstone. By book three, I had forgotten I ever had those thoughts, but here in Hell for the Company, they are large and looming. I can’t figure out why, could be I’m just not a fan of angels but this is my least favorite story.

Fear of Frogs: Brimstone 2. Rating: 4.25 stars

Fear of frogs, frog sex. All hilarious. Put your emotions in guffaw mode here. What is the one thing the Demon Prince is afraid of? Yep, that would be frogs. I won’t spoil how Shax and the frogs come into contact but its a doozy as are the after effects. Because they lead us directly to the next, last and my favorite story of them all, Shax’s War. And yes, another compadre is added to the Brimstone when Verin finds love.

Shax’s War: Brimstone 3. Rating: 5 stars

Parts of this story are downright gruesome, unexpectedly so given all the other stories that have come before. I thought there would be some humor, and there is. Some lovely thoughtful moments and wild hijinks, all that’s here too. But some of the painful stuff? No, I didn’t expect to read elements of that here. But there is also a reason for its inclusion. Up until now, we’ve seen several sides of Shax. The one that loves his “pretties”, the thoughtful one, the loyal one, and so one. But never this one.

“You think I’m a nice, civilized demon, don’t you? Fussy, arrogant, unwilling to get my hands dirty.”

That was Shax about to prove to a villain that the opposite of that was true, that he is the Demon Prince after all, something we haven’t seen up until now. There are multiple points of view, a wild chase, nefarious goings on, more than a few stomach churning scenes (don’t worry, the worst of it happens “off stage”), more action and suspense than anyone could hope for and get. Plus a lot of demon sex, which includes bdsm scenes (spreaders, you name it). Shax’s War is one wild ride.

At the end, Shax has a crew of beings the like of which is quite wonderful, well on their way to being family. Shax and Verin each have found their long term loves and Ivanna is happy. Life is pretty darn wonderful on the Brimstone. I wonderful what next adventure is coming for them.

I love this crew and their stories. I highly recommend them all. I believe Potato Surprise is free at Mischief Corner Books. Check them all out now.

Cover art by Freddy McKay. I like the cover, even if that’s not my idea of Shax. Where’s all that gorgeous auburn hair?

Sales Links: Mischief Corner Press | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

300 pages, ebook, paperback and Kindle editions
Published July 25th 2014 by Mischief Corner Books, LLC (first published March 28th 2014)
ASINB00M4ZHQI8
edition languageEnglish
seriesBrimstone #1-3

Brimstone:

A MelanieM Review: Potato Surprise: A Brimstone Prequel (Brimstone 0) by Angel Martinez

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Before Ness, before Corny, before Leopold and Heckle and Mac, there was just Shax and Verin and a newly stolen, er, acquired cargo ship. Join Shax on his first adventure in space in which a pampered demon prince has a lot to learn.

When a steel trap of celestial and infernal politics threatens to close around them, Shax and Verin flee Earth’s system in a stolen ship, leaving everything behind. It’s an elegantly simple plan, with a new ship and a new life as carefree brigands among the stars.

But the ship seems to hate them, and in order to have any sort of life they need funds. A frightened man offering them a contract to deliver three mysterious crates comes just in time, and Shax is sure their troubles are over. Out of his environment and in over his head, Shax scrambles to understand the players and the consequences of his new life. With cargo that’s not what it seems, shadowy motives around every turn, and a gorgeous rogue named Julian for a dash of added confusion, Shax’s grand schemes of a new start may be his demise before he can even begin.

First of all. Angel Martinez. Let’s just get that out of the way. That author’s name is all I need to pick up a book. The title Potato Surprise in combination with science fiction certainly added that dash of anticipation of the quirky, the oddball, the unexpected, and the highly imaginative. You will get all that here. Loved it.

Potato Surprise is a prequel to Brimstone (a collection I grabbed up after reading this wonderful story). Here we get our first introduction to the space faring or fleeing demon Shax, his companion Verin, and their newly acquired ship, renamed The Brimstone. The Brimstone has a delightful IA with a drag queen personality, Ivana Cockatoo! Together the three of them form a slightly less than formidable ship of privateers, willing to trade/ship merchandise legal or otherwise, especially otherwise across the galaxy. This includes those surprising potatoes.

Angel Martinez’ imagination is fearless. Her demons may know other demons that fit within our prescribed notions of what demons should look like and how demons should act, her demons may even be related to demons that act that way. But Shax? He is one surprise after another, loyal, with an endless and often troublesome appreciation for the “pretties”, his charm is as boundless as his enthusiasms. I adore Shax. Verin is a little more hard core or perhaps hard shell,..hard to say. The other books I just now reading let me have more of a feel for his character and background. But here Verin is a solid, loyal as well, presence in both the stories and in Shax’s life and he anchors the stories. Verin may blow smoke, but there’s definitely fire behind it.

Oh, Ivana! Ever since Kirk ended up temporarily with a flirtatious computer on the Enterprise, IAs with entertaining or wildly scary personalities have appeared in stories and screen plays. I love Ivana Cockatoo. Ivana immediately embraces the new name and new owners. They certainly are a better fit for Ivana than the previous owner and this IA jumps into the new life with a joy that’s downright infectious. Ivana is an equal partner in crime and party here, and valued family member.

Why Shax and Verin had to flee Earth is only sketchily filled in here. More details come in the later stories. There is a planet side romance, don’t all pirates have one? That has its own tender, loving element of its own. There are moments of beauty, scenes of glee and disgust, then its time to leave once more. Off on more adventures, more travels and certainly more transactions that will get them into danger and the money they need to continue charging through the galaxy together.

The Brimstone’s crew has me hooked good and proper. This prequel did that job beautifully. I love Shax, Verin, and Ivana. I can’t wait to see how far Angel Martinez takes this crew and what amazing things and places they get to go and what mayhem they commit when they get there. Let me tell you floating bovines is in your future if you love this as much as I do! Its not to be missed!

Cover art by Fredi McKay. Wild and includes elements from the story, although not as I had pictured them in my imagination.

Sales Links: Mischief Corner Books | All Romance (ARe) |

Book Details:

ebook, First, 120 pages

Expected publication: August 29th 2015 by Mischief Corner Books, LLc

original title: Potato Surprise: A Brimstone Prequel

edition language English

series Brimstone 0

A MelanieM Review: The Line by Angel Martinez

Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5:

Rafael Schiller, vampire and sexual god without peer, believes himself the top of the food chain, until a bizarre creature feeding in an alley scares the deathless hell out of him.

Rafael Schiller’s had a long road and he’s forgotten the meaning of several human words along the way. Commitment? Relationship? Love, for all the gods’ sakes? What does a vampire need those for? He’s completely content treating his long string of one-off lovers as midnight snacks. He makes it good for them and has no reason for guilt or grief. Some nights still induce an odd, hollow ache, but he can just drown it in the next conquest. Master of his universe, he lives without a care…until he encounters a bizarre creature feeding in an alley.

It’s caught his scent, and now that it’s hunting him, Rafael remembers a word from his childhood. Krsnik—the hunters, the monsters who feed on the blood of vampires. He could run, but he’d be running forever, and that would sure as hell take the fun out of life. Time to figure out what the creature really is, what can defeat it, and why he feels so drawn to it.

The Line by Angel Martinez is another terrific story from this “auto read” fantasy author. The Line takes the typical vampire character, normally an apex predator when they aren’t sparkling, and gives him an adversary, the Krsnik, worthy of such formidable being. Furthermore, Martinez doesn’t just give us a remarkably scary hunter in the Krsnik, no, she gives us the haunting backstory as to how this creature came into being. By giving us those extra layers, Martinez’ The Line and her characters steps outside the ordinary “supernatural” narrative into something quite wonderful and unexpected.

Talk about a duo meant for each other in every way but romantic. At least at first. Rafael, is a vampire whose years of existence has taught him that killing his “food’ is unnecessary. Instead he leaves his “young men” sexually sated and happy when he is done and on his way out the door. It’s a lonely existence but Rafael has made his peace with it. Then a new predator appears in his town and Rafael decides to track it down and dispatch it. Only this predator feeds on vampires and is more powerful and just as cunning as Rafael. Now the hunter is the hunted, Rafael’s position at the top of the food chain is gone and his continued existence in doubt. It’s a lovely turn of events and the author wrings every bit of angst, suspense and shock out of this element.

Lan the Krsnik is remarkable as the predator of predators. He’s a truly fearsome creature. But he is also as layered a being as Raphael. I won’t spoil the surprises that come with his character but they brought to mind a quote I recently read that said when creating villains/dark characters, a good way to make them real is to give them vulnerabilities, a way for the reader to also understand and sympathize with them*. Angel Martinez has certainly done that here with Lan. Together Lan and Rafael become this dance of hunter and hunted that I never wanted to end. I loved every bit of it, including those instances where humor surfaces to ease the tension…for just a moment before it all gets deadly again.

I rarely find that I am happy with the length of any Angel Martinez tale because she provides such interesting back histories and world building to her stories that she often poses as many questions in her narrative as she supplies answers. At the end of each story I am always left wanting to know more….about everything. And yes, that happens here as well. Forty five pages? I could use two hundred and still be curious about small bits of history and back story that she teased us with throughout the tale. The only jarring element was the inclusion of the Johnny Cash song, The Line. I know it was included because this story was initially published as part of Totally Bound’s 50’s Mixed Tape Anthology but it could have been easily eliminated here, at least to my way of thinking.

Do you love tales of the supernatural? Are vampires in lust and love your thing as they are mine? Or you are just a fan of Angel Martinez as I am…in all case, pick up The Line by Angel Martinez. It’s a vampire tale you won’t want to miss and one I highly recommend.

*Can’t remember who made this remark at the moment. I will give them credit when my memory starts working again.

Cover Art by Pamela Sinclair. I have to say I am tired of seeing that one model everywhere. You know, the blond one. He’s an elf usually, or an angel. No matter, what he’s emphatically noticed for is being overused. Sigh. Surely, there is another stock model who could be substituted in his place?

Sales Links: Totally Bound Books All Romance (ARe) Amazon Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 45 pages
Published December 20th 2013 by Totally Bound
previously published as part of the 50’s Mixed Tape Anthology
ISBN 1781849145 (ISBN13: 9781781849149)
edition languageEnglish
urlhttps://www.totallybound.com

A MelanieM Review: Quinn’s Gambit by Angel Martinez and Bellora Quinn

Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5

An unregistered, human con wizard and a duty-bound, straightlaced elf cop. As New York explodes with dangerous creatures, their passion goes nuclear.

After a terrible magical accident at Berkeley created unpredictable holes between realities—all manner of non-human creatures started popping into our world. From selkies to trolls, elves to Sasquatches, all the magical creatures needed help because their was no returning them to their world or families. These magical events are called RARE—Random Anomalous Reality Events. And they have made magic now a reality, pulling it out of fiction and relocated it firmly in reality.

The result was a great deal of chaos, pain, anger, and confusion. Displaced elf Valerian works with AURA—the Agency of Unnatural Resettlement and Assimilation—to intercept these beings as they appear in the human world, helping the peaceful ones and subduing the violent, malevolent ones. It’s good, satisfying work, and Val would be happy if he wasn’t so lonely.

Quinten is a young human just trying to get by. But Quintan has a background awash in pain and betrayal and isn’t about to put his trust in any establishment, an attitude that makes New York City a difficult place to make a living. A bit of a con with a fluid moraltiy, still Quinten has a good heart if also one that’s kept under lock and key.

Living by his wits and sometimes magically-induced luck, he works as a ‘free-lance magic user’, or unregistered mage and small time con—according to the authorities. The last thing Quinn wants is to draw the cops’ attention, but when an Event happens right on top of him, he’s forced to turn to AURA for help. And that means an introduction to Val and the very agency Quinten has been trying to avoid.

But darker events are looming over all mage users and its’ up to Val, Quinten and a small group of friends (or almost friends) to stop the evil existing in their midsts.

Already a huge fan of Angel Martinez and her fantasy worlds, now I’m going to add Bellora Quinn to my list! Quinn’s Gambit, the first in a new Aura series, pulled me in by the first paragraph and kept me enthralled until the very last word. All of the characters the reader will meet inside Quinn’s Gambit are so beautifully realized! It really doesn’t matter who the character it, whether its Val, the elf prince, Kai, a drow and IT specialist and his lover Tensin a Yeti, or Sin aka Sinistrus a unlucky succubus who prefers men instead of the females he needs to feed on. One after another, a whole cast of bewitching characters appear to capture your heart and make you care about the tumultuous situation and universe they find themselves in.

The authors leave the origin of the blast and the experiment performed somewhat murky. All we know is that now holes in the fabric of the universe is allowing beings from other levels or plains of existence to fall through, permanently, into this one. Just from the mention of a selkie who committed suicide when she fell shockingly to ground in a desert in southwestern United States, and the reader gets it. These poor beings have been ripped without warning from their worlds and loved ones, and the authors make us feel their continued pain and confusion. Valerian lives with the constant pain of loss and we hurt for him because the cost to him and the others falls within the spectrum of loss we can well imagine.

Quinten is another special character. His background is slowly revealed to all in the story and once known, explains his living and working circumstances as well as the wall he has created around his heart. I think there is still so much more to be divulged about Quinn. There is an enormity to him and his powers that the authors are just starting to explore. Quinn is a puzzle and we still don’t have all the pieces to this compelling young man when we reach the end of this story. I can’t wait to see what else will come.

Quinn’s Gambit contains several mysteries, a ton of heartbreaking dramas, and, of course, a romance to begin and solidify between Quinn and Val. The writing is tight, the imaginative elements splendid and engrossing, and the heat that occurs between Quinn and Val so hot and sexy its almost combustible. The only place that I wanted more was the ending. I wanted it to be fuller, longer, and with more exposition to the scenes there. Yes, I wanted the “cherry on the top, with sprinkles”! Lucky for us all, Quinn’s Gambit is but the first in a new series, Aura, from Angel Martinez and Bellora Quinn. I. Can’t. Wait!

Pick up Quinn’s Gambit (AURA Series #1) by Angel Martinez and Bellora Quinn and begin your journey within this amazing new universe. It’s one of my favorite, highly recommended reads this month, perhaps of the year.

Cover artist Posh Gosh does a great job with the New York City skyline and Quinn. Terrific job.

Sales Links: Totally Bound Amazon Buy It Here links to come

Book Details:

ebook
Expected publication: March 6th 2015 by Totally Bound
ISBN139781784304423
edition languageEnglish
url https://www.totallybound.com/
seriesAURA Series #1

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